School bus driver sentenced to more than 3 years in fatal hit-and-run
A school bus driver who fatally ran over a woman while students were on board and then fled the scene has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Jason R. Rynders, 35, of Maple Grove, last November agreed to plead guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide in connection to the fatal crash on March 16, 2020, in Brooklyn Park that killed 45-year-old Devon Doherty.
The veteran and father of three was sentenced to 41 months at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud on Monday, Jan. 31.
Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 48 months in prison. They said he shouldn't get a departure from the presumptive sentence because he didn't try to help Doherty, nor did he use any of the bus' safety features to prevent a second motorist from driving over her.
"He simply fled the scene and left her to die," prosecutors said in court documents.
Rynders attorneys pushed for him to just get probation.
According to court documents:
Rynders was driving a school bus with about four to five students on board at about 6:50 a.m. near Humboldt Avenue and Meadowood Drive in Brooklyn Park on March 16, 2020, when he hit and killed Doherty.
Rynders pulled over and got out of the bus to take a look, while at the same time another driver behind him had stopped after he had also hit Doherty.
The motorist told Rynders to call 911 but Rynders instead got back into the school bus and left. He then dropped the elementary students off at school.
Doherty died in the street.
Rynders told investigators he heard a noise and got out to investigate, but didn't believe he'd hit anyone. Security cameras show the bus appear to "shudder or hit something" right before Rynders exits the vehicle to investigate.
Doherty was pronounced dead at the scene, with authorities saying she was struck by the front of the school, then the front axle and potentially also rear tires.
Doherty was a paralegal who loved music and going to Widespread Panic concerts around the country and she "deeply loved her fur babies," according to her obituary.
The fatal crash occurred at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Doherty's family did not have a memorial service due to worries about the virus. Instead, her obituary encouraged people to "have a drink, enjoy a song, and dance for Devon."
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